Compass Software Technology - Newsletter 10 - June 2014

Now matter the size of your organisation, you will have many different types of assets; plant, building, production, sales, collectables and many more. Some will be critical to your operation, some very expensive, others very difficult to replace etc. Everyone will have a different viewpoint on the value / usefulness of these assets, however many "essential" will remain completely unknown to the majority of staff and management until they stop working or some other reason suddenly highlights a particular asset. This newsletter looks at how assets are perceived by various individuals within an organistion and whether their perception of some assets should be changed to benefit all.

How are your assets rated?

You know how frustrating it can be when you cannot find something as simple as a stapler when you are in a rush and often other people in your office are asked to join in hunt for that elusive stapler. Yet a few minutes earlier the existence of that stapler was of no concern to anyone. It went from a zero rating to a high rating in seconds.
Likewise, imagine if the air-conditioning fails in your server room, resulting a few minutes later in your computer network, phones etc., suddenly not working. The majority of people in your organisation are probably totally unaware of how essential cooling is in a server room. Now they are very aware as they are unable to continue with their daily tasks. So how important is the perception of your assets to others?

Rating Perception Criteria

Lets examine the various criteria that impact on the perception rating of an asset. You will see that the perception is complex depending on both the asset and how people / users interact with it. The graphic at the bottom illustrates the wide differences in perception.

1. Cost of replacement
For the majority of assets this is not an issue. However if your CFO is suddenly asked for €100,000 to replace a chiller or AHU that has reached the end of its lifespan in the next few months, he or she will most likely have a fit! Why? The asset was most likely fully depreciated many years ago and unless the CFO was directly benefiting from the asset's output, in all probability the existence of a very expensive asset will have been forgotten.

2. Critical Asset Identity
Your organisation will have several critical assets, which if they fail will have an immediate and dramatic impact. Let's take for instance a hot water pump serving the deli area of a very busy supermarket. Very few, possibly only the Facilities Manager will be aware of its existence. However failure will force the closure of the deli area, potentially costing €1000's per hour until it is replaced and affecting many people.

3. General Condition and Age
Who and what defines the condition of an asset, users, maintenance personel and management can have a different perceptions. Who is correct?

4. Access
Obstacles, distance or other deterrents to access can easily allow an asset to be forgotten. Contractors are far more likely to perform and spend more time on the maintenance of easily accessible assets. The perception is "out of sight, out of mind".

5. Location (General)
Let's compare assets in two different locations; furniture and fittings in the reception area and an air-con unit on the roof. Any wear & tear or damage in the reception will be noticed by many from the MD to visitors and will have a much higher level of perception than the AC which will most likely only ever be seen by the Facilities Manager and maintenance personel.

6. Location (In Relation to Similar Assets)
Often assets such as pumps are "crowded" together in a location and too often the same level of perception is applied to all, whereas there will be a stacked level of importance dependent on function.

7. Impact of Breakdown / Failure
A breakdown suddenly raises the perception of an asset depending on the level of impact. The breakdown can have a minor local impact or greatly influence Production / Sales and Working Conditions. Again how was the asset that caused the breakdown rated in importance by the people who were impacted.

Health & Safety Assessment
Parts and equipment become worn, fail and a "safe" piece of equipment can become dangerous. How many accidents have occurred when guards etc., have been removed unknown to others? Here the perception changes from safe to dangerous. The operator may be well aware of the risk but how many other individuals will be involved following a preventable incident. Perception of risk = prevention.

Energy Efficiency
Every company has introduced energy saving procedures, yet how many lights, computers etc., are still left on after closing time. But what about that old inefficient boiler, or damaged roof AHU ducts, they could be making a very negative impact on your energy savings. Perception in knowing how assets use / waste energy.

Environmental Impact
Can you company make a serious and costly impact on the environment due to spillage, emissions etc?
Can the environment (i.e. weather) make a serious and costly impact on unprotected assets?
How do you and others perceive this risk in relation to your assets?

Performance / Reliability
When we start work in the morning we automatically assume the lights will come on, the computer will startup and we can get a coffee. We often
have very little perception of both what assets are allowing this to happen and the level of maintenance required to ensure this reliability.

The Purpose of this Newsletter

Improving the value perception of selected assets will have considerable financial benefits for your organisation. Only a very small percentage of your assets will impact on more than a few individuals over their lifespan, however this impact could be considerable. Can I suggest that you build a list of those assets that would be seriously affected by or would cause serious implications relating to any of the above perception criteria.

If you enter these assets with your perception rating into our checklist and circulate the checklist to other key members of your organisation. As you can see from the examples provided, perceptions will differ greatly. Possibly very different to your original perceived rating. However the key benefit is the awareness generated of the existence and role of these assets. This awareness will;

Aid future budgeting

Improve maintenance on and increase longevity of assets

Reduce risk and prevent accidents

If you would like to talk to us more about the content this newsletter, please contact us. Our contact details are at the bottom of this newsletter.

A FREE usable version of the Asset Inspection Checklist built into our Regional Pro3 solution is available for you to download Here

You want to optimise how you operate your Property, Plant and Facilities Maintenance
Let Compass guide and help you to do it.